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Monday, May 13, 2013

A lie is the absence of truth - part 1: an incoming media case

Dear readers, friends, practitioners of spirituality and lovers of truth
I wish now to draw your attention on an unfortunately only too typical a case today of media manipulation. We can see such manipulation often, but this time it hit very close to home - this time the target is the yoga school where i study and teach, which I love - Natha Yogacenter.
In the following 2 Thursdays, on the Danish television station TV2 will be broadcasted a 2-part show aiming to slander Natha Yogacenter as a dangerous sex-sect. Having been in in this school for 12 years, i think that if it was a sex sect i would know about it. But, don't take my word for it.
In the next days and in a few posts I will follow this story and will expose compelling facts about this matter - showing the depth of the lie and the manipulation. Keep tuned and follow this blog and you can expect some very interesting facts and materials on this.

First, for your background information, i offer in this post an article which my teacher Advaitananda posted on his blog already 3 months ago about the history of the communication between Natha and the leading charcter in the show in question - a danish journalist called Bubber. You will be able to clearly see from the way in which Bubber chose to contact Natha using lies and disguises in the beginning and then with very strange conditions that he was never interested in making an objective review of the school but rather was looking only for a scandal. So far of objective journalism - more like tabloidism.
Bellow, is the article from Advaitanada's Blog:

Where is the balance between rights and duties?

An incoming media case?

"Journalism is a guardian that never sleeps and protects
the freedom of the people" - Winston Churchill"

Celebrating the fact that the Mayans apparently got their
calculus wrong, elements from the Danish press are preparing to balance the
things by putting an end to their loudly praised deontology. Appointed as the
watch dog of our society in its highly important role of providing a voice for
the public, the mass media is bound by a code of ethics and is accountable for
its actions. However, the human element in this equation gives room for all the
possible nuances of subjectivity to enter into the apparent search for truth
and personal agendas and ulterior motives often dictate the outcome.

The idea of an institution which correctly, ethically and
objectively informs the people is utopic to say the least. The level of
consciousness of a society dictates the possibilities for ethics and
rightfulness to be properly adhered to. And as we all bear witness to on a
daily basis, the current level of consciousness is a far cry from the
spiritually enlightened consciousness needed for the spontaneous following of
ethics and principles. Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that
“public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of
democracy”. However, how can an unenlightened media enlighten its society? If
the media would stick to its obligation of providing “mediation” as an
“information service” without becoming personally involved then it would
correctly fulfill its purpose and serve the role given to it within our
democratic society.

I have recently had firsthand experience of dealing with a part
of the Danish media which has unfortunately only once again led me to conclude
that this institution still has a long way to go before it is truly living up
to its professional obligations. For those of you unfamiliar with Danish TV,
‘Danmark ifølge Bubber’ ('Denmark According to Bubber') is an ongoing documentary show on TV2. It is hosted by the eponymous
Bubber who gained popularity in the Danish media for his career in children’s
television. Now ‘Danmark ifølge Bubber’ is going into its 5th season
and according to Bubber it promises to be “evenwilderandeven better.” He says that “Denmarkisincrediblein every way possible, both for the
worseandbetter.” So far
the show has covered topics such as bestiality, transvestites, swingers clubs,
men in women’s clothing, Nazism, porn, prison and prostitution. It makes me
wonder - how much wilder can it get?! As wild as Natha Yogacenter? J It seems they think we fit
into this category. Should we be flattered? Maybe we would be if we were not
already acquainted with how the media likes to portray us in such an
unflattering light. Correlating this piece of information with the fact that
Bubber has said that in the new season he moves “intoa newarea wherepeople losegood judgment,"
and that the story has come about because of reports by ex-members of the school,
we can be sure of the type of story ‘Danmark ifølge Bubber’ has
up their sleeve.

After explaining to Bubber that I am busy for most of December
and would probably not be able to do the interview until January, he asked for
the interview to take place on the 15th January. However, in his
next email he suddenly changed his tune and wrote: “I
suggest that I call you/Mihai on Tuesday the 18. or Wednedsday the 19. next
week to do the interview (by phone). If I don´t hear anything from you before
Tuesday the 18th of December 2012, I must conclude that Mihai Stoian don´t want
to participate in the programme and answer my questions.” Which has left me
wondering why the sudden change of date and why the urgency to get the
interview done now instead of in one month’s time?

I wanted to give the interview, but
told Bubber that I would only do it in certain conditions, as I needed a
minimum insurance that my words would not be misused or misinterpreted. Having
learnt from previous dealings with the media, we drew up a contract stipulating
these conditions in which we would agree to do the interview.

“The recorded material with
me as a participant may be wholly or partly

included in the final
version of this production.

Eyeworks/TV 2 have no right
to use or broadcast publically the material regardless of format and method of
presentation without my written approval and accept.

Eyeworks/TV 2 is aware that
in case they do not obtain my written approval and accept of broadcasting, they
submit to paying me a penalty fee of 500.000 dkr. pr. broadcast or released
example of a production material including wholly or partly my participation.

Due to any concern that my
rights could be violated, I can anytime cancel any kind of accept or declaration
I have previously given for broadcasting material containing my participation,
no matter the circumstances and the consequences Eyeworks/ TV 2 will suffer
from this decision.”

Eyeworks however declined, stating:

“We are aware that you have asked
for the right to choose which part of the interview we afterwards can use. This
is unfortunately not a request we can accommodate,
as we would then compromise on our constitutional right of the press to
collect, treat and pass on information. Also TV2/DK will never accept that
these rights to edit the programme are granted to participants, in a programme
like this.” Unfortunately this is not just a singular case. The entire mass
media is riddled with this kind of hypocritical attitude. On one hand they
speak of their rights, and on the other they do not care about their
obligations to protect the fundamental rights of the people, such as the right
of their own image, the property of their words. The right
of publicity, often called personality
rights, is the right of an individual to control the commercial use of
his or her name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal aspects of one's
identity.

The
contract Eyeworks asked me to sign states:

“I accept that recorded
material with me as a participant may be wholly or partly

included in the final
version of this production.

I also accept that
Eyeworks/TV 2 have indefinite and unlimited exclusive right to use

the material all over the
world, regardless of format and method of presentation. I

have no rights to the material
and can never raise claims based on my participation.”

Through
our correspondence Bubber is twisting his obligation to allow the right of
reply. The spirit of the law is that we have the right to reply and he has to
give it to us. All that we have asked is that we can make sure that our reply
will be put as we intended it, without it being manipulated through editing by
them. As he has total freedom in most of the program to say whatever he wants,
for giving a fair right of reply we should have the same freedom in the short
segment that he gives us a right to reply. Otherwise, what is the point of
giving a reply if it is cut out of context or even important parts of it are
omitted?

It became glaringly obvious in this communication that he is not allowing us
the proper right for reply which is free from his own interests of displaying
Natha in a critical way. As he wrote to me: “I
have to say that this is not an offer of cooperation. It is an offer to Mihai
Stoian/Natha Yoga to answer to critique that will be raised in my program”. He
also stated: “The program will be broadcasted on TV2 whether he participates or
not, which is why this is to be regarded as an offer and I´m afraid the above
terms are not open for discussion.”

The
Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics states that “The duty of the
journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and
comprehensive account of events and issues.” The
intentions of Bubber and his program are obviously not in accordance with this
code of ethical conduct and it is for this reason that I will not participate
in a potential immoral attempt to vilify and degrade my person and the school
of which I am a part.

Here is an excerpt from the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe. Resolution 1003 on the Ethics of Journalism, which I
think speaks for itself.

The right to information as a fundamental human right -
Publishers, proprietors and journalists

7.The
media's work is one of "mediation", providing an information service,
and the rights which they own in connection with freedom of information depends
on its addressees, that is the citizens.

8.Information
is a fundamental right which has been highlighted by the case-law of the
European Commission and Court of Human Rights relating to Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights and recognised under Article 9 of the
European Convention on Transfrontier Television, as well as in all democratic
constitutions. The owner of the right is the citizen, who also has the related
right to demand that the information supplied by journalists be conveyed truthfully,
in the case of news, and honestly, in the case of opinions, without outside
interference by either the public authorities or the private sector.

9.The
public authorities must not consider that they own information. The
representativeness of such authorities provides the legal basis for efforts to
guarantee and extend pluralism in the media and to ensure that the necessary
conditions are created for exercising freedom of expression and the right to
information and precluding censorship. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers is
aware of this fact, as demonstrated by its Declaration on the Freedom of
Expression and Information adopted on 29 April 1982.

It should be mentioned here that Natha had its doors open to
Eyeworks and ‘Danmark ifølge Bubber’ when they first
contacted us in June 2012 in relation to a program about Tantra as a quickly
developing positive 'trend' in our society. Together with other tantra related
projects, we had several meetings planning Bubber’s visit to Natha’s summer
camps, the annual Tantra Festival, lectures about Tantra and couple
relationships, and other such activities. However, Eyeworks/TV2 backed out of
the cooperation after we had spent a lot of resources meeting their needs and
were just about to begin shooting. Yet in the end they did not want to
cooperate for the same contractual reasons as now.

The question of course arises: Did Eyeworks and Bubber
already have a dirty plan in mind, and did they visit Natha and other
Tantra-based places with the intention of obtaining some 'good' images which
they could afterwards fit into the dubious context of their upcoming program?

If there is nothing to hide Mr
Bubber, then why do you not allow such an agreement that is only aiming to
secure our side of the story? I didn't ask for full disclosure of the sources
or even of the content of all the other filmed material before talking, I have
only asked for my rights to present my point of view in the way I consider fits
into this context to be respected. Refusing to accede to this simple agreement
clearly shows another interest behind the stage. Why should one be afraid of
the story that one is telling since he is free to ask other opinions also?
Unless of course he wants a certain result, and not the truth...

As a conclusion, what kind of search
for the Truth is that where you are not interested to protect all the opinions
in an equal manner? If this is the way one is searching for the Truth, can we
call that person honest?

The coming days will tell if these are
only some theoretical ideas or the reality will prove them to be right. I dare
to anticipate, however, that I will get more lessons from these guys about
their constitutional rights, but nothing about their constitutional duties (for
which they are paid anyway), and in the end they will anyway tell only the
story they were intending to tell from the very beginning. But this is nothing
new. When it is an order from … one has to comply with it … and there is no
place for negotiation with the victim. So much for professional journalism.

I
can foresee that they will not stop here because their orders are aiming to
create more trouble. Therefore they will start to question more about our
school, trying to take all the old ghosts out of the closet in order to ensure
their story has more consistency. ... In this way they will prove that it is
not the truth they are after but their truth suggested by the hand that feeds
them...